Reclaiming Abandoned

Just got in the mail the "Massachusetts Forest Stewardship Program"
newsletter, discussing it's upcoming workshop on "Reclaiming Abandoned
Field Habitats". The following is from the newsletter.
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In conjunction with the Massachusetts Division of Fish & Wildlife's
Biodiversity Initiative, the Forest Stewardship Program has been awarded
a three-year, $100,000-plus grant to support early successional stage
wildlife habitat enhancement on private forest lands. Please join us
for this workshop, led by John Scanlon and Jm Oehler of DFW. They will
explain, illustrate, and answer questions about a new stewardship
practice, developed in response to the Initiative, "Reclaiming Abandoned
Field Habitats".
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Do any of you foresters and landowners that do SIP projects have
something like this in your states? What do you think about spending
money on such a practice?
It sounds like a noble concept, but, too often over the years, no money
is available for subsidies for BASIC forestry practices; and yet money
is found for such "fancy" concepts as "Reclaiming Abandoned Field
Habitats"; which also happens to be a "make work" project for government
foresters.
I'll admit, I'm no world authority on abandoned field ecology, but I was
a serious bird watcher for many years. And in my opinion, nothing like a
good heavy logging job to bring back an environment not too different
than the abandoned field- as far as non game birds are concerned-
because similar shrubbery and early successional species will come in.
In my opinion this is just another example of government coming up with
something that sounds great- but it shows that the government people
just don't get it- the fact that only a small percentage of private
forest is under forest mgt. Good all around multiple use forest mgt.
will be as good for the ecology, game and non game species of wildlife,
and result in a good diversity of wild plants, just as well as this
$100,000 expense, and without justifying a lot of hours of public
servants. For all the vast amount of time that gov. foresters spend
dreaming up these cool sounding projects, they could be out doing basic
forestry "MISSIONARY WORK". I've been calling for this for 25 years to
no avail. Thus my attitude about gov. forestry.
Comments?
Joe Zorzin
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"In wilderness is the preservation of the world."
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